Anchors Aweigh!
by 101Salocin
Summary: When a new, revolutionary type of warship from a pirate faction took to the seas, the oceans and skies will never be the same again. And they've got three of them. This is the story of one of these vessels. What will the Blue Mermaids do? What has fate in store for everyone? And who exactly is the captain?
1. Prologue

**Hello, author here! Here am I taking up a new project story while effectively putting all my others on hold. Sorry :p**

**Well, that aside, I'm now writing a story for Haifuri, so wish me luck! I've always had something with WW2 naval stuff, plus I've written half a story about warships a few years ago.**

**As always, obligatory disclaimer that I don't own anyone that isn't my OC, and please post a review if possible!**

Prologue

Welcome to 2015 of another world.

This world you are about to see is very similar to ours, don't worry bout it. Even the people act the same, so relax.

And yet, this world also has major differences from ours as well.

For example, maritime trade is more developed here, and ships are still the definite long-distance mode of transport, still flourishing up till today. For some reason, two major world conflicts never happened as well, and most if not all countries are at peace with everyone else today.

"How did this all happen?" you may ask.

Well, everything was completely identical to our world up till a certain point in time. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference before then; everything was literally the same, even down to the smallest detail.

The world-changing incident that wasn't supposed to happen happened on December 17, 1903.

On that day, it crashed hard nosefirst on its maiden flight, ejecting and killing both of its creators as a result.

And that is when everything deviated away from ours. There was little to no attempt to achieve heavier-than-air flight after that.

After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan had decided to excessively mine for methane hydrate on the seafloor in order to meet its energy demands, which eventually led to much of the country's landmass sinking into the sea. As a result, floating cities were built to replace the sunken cities, and these cities were vulnerable to attack from pirates. The need to defend them quickly arose, and in order to not project an aura of war (how that works is still up for debate), women began to man warships, not only sticking to the cities but also defend sea routes as well. An organization was established, and its name and the fine ladies who serve in them will forever be known as...

The Blue Mermaids.

An international peacekeeping organization made up of only females. Well-trained, they are the guards of the seven seas, always answering calls for help and saving many lives.

Many young, aspiring girls from all around the world join maritime high schools and train on older warships in order to graduate as Blue Mermaids, and in Japan in particular a culture has been created around them.

But even with the additional protection of the Blue Mermaids, piracy continues to thrive today.

The usual kind that the Blue Mermaids regularly manage to subdue and capture are those that are poor and disorganized, almost always working alone and usually randomly attacking civilian vessels with no real cause in mind. Their ships, mostly old, outdated, ill-maintained destroyers such as mothballed Minekaze-class destroyers that were stolen before they could be scrapped, are easily shot into submission by the Blue Mermaids with their superior equipment, organization and if necessary numbers, with these pirate crews quickly thrown behind bars once they were hauled back to port. If you were lucky you could find an obsolete light cruiser being crewed by such pirates, but these are few and far between, and pose no threat to the Blue Mermaids on their own.

However, there also exists organized pirate factions, fashioned into more-or-less "professional" navies by themselves. These are wealthy organizations with the capability to properly maintain, repair, rearm and even design and build their own vessels, weapons and other stuff, the ships themselves of various types and are all up-to-par with the older but combat-viable training ships that maritime high schools use. Furthermore, these crews are also more-or-less properly trained in seafaring, which meant that these crews are actually competent sailors with a good grasp on their jobs. As such, these factions pose a far greater potential threat to the Mermaids than the "rustbucket pirates", if they ever encounter them at least.

These factions have different main agendas; for example, most stick to the raiding of civilian ships for riches and get away before help shows up, others seek out and hunt the Blue Mermaids and vessels from any other country's navies that they could take on, and a few do the Mermaids a favor and hunt down the vessels of the above two groups.

Yes. Vigilante pirates.

These pirate-hunting "navies" plunder the vessels of other factions, gaining a good sum of riches for themselves in the process as valuable items were sold in the naval black market. The money they obtain from these sales is used to buy resources, maintain, repair and resupply their existing vessels, pay the salaries of their members, further hire people, research, build _and_ design new ships, weapons bases, floating drydocks and such, and the list goes on. Some even donate part of their gains anonymously to needy people around the world as well, for even more various reasons of course.

With that mentioned, it isn't surprising to know that these factions are a common source of debate by people, even within the Blue Mermaids themselves. The official statement from the Mermaids and navies, however, is that while these factions are not a direct threat to the safety and security of ships and can actually prove beneficial, they are still against the law and as such will be eventually dealt with. But with the possibility of leniency or pardon, of course, and the Blue Mermaids have openly invited the vessels of such factions to surrender themselves and be pardoned, perhaps even potentially becoming part of the world-protecting naval force if they're eligible. Of course, nobody took that offer up.

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, away from civilization, stood the floating headquarters of one such vigilante navy. This was a decently-sized base, with enough space for a dock that can hold up to three medium-sized battleships and a flourishing garden field outside of the main building itself.

In the admiral's office, the admiral herself was about three quarters done with paperwork, both physical and digital. Tired, she reached for her mug to get yet another sip of coffee.

Three knocks came from the door.

"Enter," she called out before taking her sip.

The door opened and the admiral's personal secretary, tablet in hand, stepped in, shutting the door behind her. "Ma'am, I've received good news. Number 8 is complete and is ready for commissioning."

The admiral stopped and looked up, renewed energy and excitement gleaming in her eyes. "About damn time! What about 5 and 6?"

"They've resumed work after we got back the necessary resources," the secretary reported faithfully. "Number 6 is nearer to completion than Number 5."

"Hm, I see," the admiral replied, resting back into her chair. "I still don't get why the boy chose those numbers specifically for these ships. The names he chose for them are perfectly fine and so are the insignias he provided, but why choose 5 and 6, then skip 7 and jump to 8?"

"Well, who knows?" the secretary shrugged. "We don't even know how he got all the blueprints for that class and the aircraft these ships will carry. Speaking of which, will they even work?"

The admiral leaned forward and crossed her arms on the table. "We spent a good amount of money to train people to operate them, along with the research and manpower we used to modify these to good safety standards before making them, because I see the vast potential the kid claims they possess. If this works out, we'd have the three most powerful ships in not just our fleets, but all the navies of this world. Just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine. And then we'll build the successor ship design he provided, refine the newer aircraft blueprints from him and replace the older ones with them, and by that time even the Blue Mermaids will be afraid of us."

"I hope that turns out that way as well, ma'am."

"Mmh."

Just then, the admiral blinked, remembering something. "Wait, what's the holdup with the commissioning?"

"We don't have a crew and we haven't decided on a captain for the ship, remember? You were the one who wanted the final say for the latter."

"Oh, right, sorry!" she chuckled. "Give command to the boy and let him pick his own people."

The secretary blinked. "Really?"

"Yes, really! I've been observing his training for the last few months, and he's pretty decent, you know. Plus, he's the reason why we're building these three special ships in the first place, so I thought it'll be nice for him to take command of the first one to be commissioned, with a crew to his liking of course."

"Ah, that's reasonable. What about the girl he learnt under?"

"She'll be the captain of Number 6!" the young woman beamed.

"Aye, that'll work."

"We still have a shortage of these so-called 'pilots', right?"

"Yes, Ma'am. As of now, only 35 of them are combat-ready. I've allocated 25 of them to Number 8, the remaining ten will be sent to Number 6. We'll have 50 more that will be ready shortly before Number 6 is commissioned, so Number 6 will receive 38 of the new batch while 12 will be sent over to Number 6, giving them an equal number of pilots; 47 each."

"Will that girl that's good friends with the boy be on Number 8?"

"Yes, definitely," the secretary grinned.

"Great! Why are we referring to them with their registry numbers, though?" the admiral suddenly wondered. "They've got names!"

The secretary blinked. "I'm… just following you, ma'am."

"Oh. Well, maybe we're concealing their names so that the hypothetical viewers or observers watching us will not directly learn the names of our new, revolutionary vessels?"

Silence.

"... What are you saying, ma'am?"

"I'm kidding!" the admiral laughed. "Well, no particular reason at all. Tell ya what, I'll start referring to them by their names tomorrow! They definitely sound cooler, you know!"

"Heheh, agreed. You say the darndest things, ma'am."

"Yeah, guess I do. Alright, that's all for now. Give the boy his good news and send him to Outpost Base 10. His new command's at Outpost 10, right?"

"Yes she is. I'll see to it right away."

Bowing, the secretary walked towards the door, tapping on her tablet and stopping to open and close the door.

Smiling to herself, the admiral laid back into her chair. Reaching for her mouse, she clicked into a few files in her computer. Reaching a classified folder, she entered her three passwords and a code.

The file opened, the screen displaying a set of blueprints. Specifically, the blueprints for the revolutionary vessels the admiral was just talking about.

The title, in bold black, read "YORKTOWN-CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIER: DESIGN SCHEMATICS".

"Hm."


	2. One

_One_

_(Two weeks later)_

_(Yokosuka Maritime High School)_

Yamada Kiyoko, a relatively new Blue Mermaid, quietly paced the corridor outside the school's principal's office, her luggage at the door, impatient and completely clueless as to why she was told to come here.

Just days ago, HQ had assigned her to this high school in order to meet its principal, retired Blue Mermaid Munetani Mayuki, who would for some reason brief her for her latest assignment. Her superior had told her to pack a luggage with casual clothing and hinted to her that this was a covert mission of sorts for a head start despite the confidentiality of the task, the first time the Blue Mermaid has been assigned something like this. Needless to say, she was nervous.

"Hello!" a voice came from the other side of the corridor.

Looking up, Kiyoko noted two girls, both in the school's uniform, heading towards her, one with a captain's hat. Despite never meeting them face-to-face, the young adult recognized them as Akeno Misaki and Munetani Mashiro, the captain and second-in-command of the now-famous Harekaze.

Of course, the informal greeting came from the captain.

"Oh, hello there, Miss Akeno and Miss Munetani," the older girl greeted. "I don't think we've met before, but I've definitely heard all about your ship and crew. How's the new Harekaze?"

"She feels just like the old one!" Mike replied cheerfully. "Our entire crew has no problems moving in!"

"This may be a new ship, but she's just like our old one," Mashiro added on. "But of course, she's still not the Y-467."

"She's still just as good," the captain replied. "We all miss the old Harekaze, but Y-469 is our new home now. We'll have new adventures together and let her live up to her namesake!"

The second-in-command nodded, smiling softly.

Kiyoko smiled. "You should, all the best! Oh, that's right, why are you two here?"

"We don't know ourselves," Mike replied. "We were told to return to Yokosuka and both Shiro and I are to report alone to the principal."

"Are you reporting to her as well?" Mashiro asked.

"Yep," the older girl nodded. "I'm here to report to Mrs Munetani for orders regarding my new assignment."

"But my mom's retired," the young Munetani pointed out. "Why is she going to brief you?"

Beats me. "The door hasn't opened yet, though."

"Maybe it's because you're supposed to knock?" an amused Munetani Mayuki smiled, having opened the door without any of the three girls noticing.

"Oh! Sorry, ma'am!" Kiyoko quickly apologized, bowing down.

"It's fine, relax-"

"Oh, and Yamada Kiyoko, reporting, ma'am!" the younger Blue Mermaid quickly straightened up, saluting the principal. "We all learnt about your exploit against the armoured pirate fleet in school, it's an honor to meet you in person!"

"P-pleased to meet you too as well, but-"

"Again, I'm terribly sorry for not knocki-"

Kiyoko felt two hands pull her up before she could bow again.

Mayuki looked at the Blue Mermaid in the eye. "Kid. Relax. That's an order."

Meanwhile, both Harekaze girls at the side were barely holding back their laughter.

Kiyoko froze, then took a deep breath. "Sorry ma'am, I'm just really nervous."

"We're going informal now, Kiyoko, just call me Mayumi," the principal smiled. "That includes you, too," she added on, looking at the captain of the Harekaze.

"Oh, sure thing, Mayumi-senpai!" Mike replied cheerfully.

"Aye, 'senpai' works," the older Munetani nodded approvingly. "Mashiro, just call me as you will. And give me a hug, that's an order."

"Sure thing, Mom!" Shiro beamed as she hugged her mother.

"How's it been on board?"

"It's all great! Mike's been a great captain and the rest of the crew has been extraordinary."

"Glad to hear that!" Mayuki grinned. "Oh, yes, to the matter at hand. We'll all talk inside."

"Sure thing," both Kiyoko and Mike replied, the former reaching for her luggage as all four women walked into the office.

"Leave us some privacy," the principal told her secretary as she walked in.

The male officer nodded, leaving the room.

Mayuki then proceeded to lock the door.

"Oh, this is serious," Mashiro muttered.

"Yep, it is," her mother replied as she went over to her desk to fetch a large envelope. "The good news is, nobody's in trouble, so there's no reason to panic."

"Oh, thank god," Mike sighed to herself.

"Now, depending on how you look at it, you three have either good news or bad news," the principal added on, walking towards the couches.

She stopped. "Well, go on, take a seat!"

"Oh, yes!" the three of them replied in unison as they sat down.

"Now, Miss Yamada here has a covert mission to complete," Mayumi continued, sitting down herself, "and the Harekaze and her crew has been chosen to assist her."

"That's all fine," the captain replied. "How can we help?"

"Well, first off, you guys need to be briefed."

The principal opened the envelope, passing the contents to the three girls. "As you all know, the seas outside our reach are plagued by countless pirates. Majority of the ones we capture on a daily basis are aimless pirates on old ships, working solo to terrorize and plunder civilian vessels."

"Uh-huh…" Mashiro nodded.

"As you all also know, there exists pirate factions, which serve a larger potential problem than those rustbucket crews," the ex-Mermaid continued. "These factions have different goals; most want to plunder civilian vessels for riches, some want to attack us Mermaids and other naval warships and there are a few that want to attack the previous two groups for certain reasons. What is certain, however, is that these factions have the money, manpower, facilities and capability to operate and maintain literal navies with properly-designed, well and self-built, regularly-maintained ships on par with our training vessels."

"We're going to have a mission related to one of these factions?" Akeno asked.

"Correct. You're going to pay a visit to the so-called North Pacific Fleet," Mayuki nodded, showing them the picture of the mainly-blue pirate ensign. "They're one of those from the third group of pirates I mentioned, so they're not hostile to us. They're also the most dominant force of their kind in the North Pacific Ocean, just as the name suggests."

"Cool," Kiyoko commented, looking at the picture of the pirate flag, blue with hints of white and gold. "They sound like really nice guys, it's a shame we're against them."

"Well, piracy is illegal no matter the context," the ex-Blue Mermaid shrugged. "It's been debated regularly, but we'll have to operate against them sooner or later."

"Is that what we'll be doing? Fight them?" the captain of the Harekaze asked curiously.

"Nope," was the reply. "Not at this time, at least. Two days ago Blue Mermaid intelligence intercepted a message from and within the NPF, which mentioned that they've commissioned and put together the crew of a 'revolutionary warship that will change naval warfare forever' and that they'll set sail in 10 days. Until then, the assigned crew and builders' technicians are to make their way to a floating dormitory base called 'Terminal 14' within these ten days and board the ferries on the last day. Obviously, the nature of this message has sparked keen interest in the Blue Mermaids, so Kiyoko, your mission is to infiltrate this crew and figure out what this new ship is."

"Ooh, this is interesting," the young Blue Mermaid replied rather excitedly.

"And you've got a special tool for the job," Mayuki noted, bringing up a spectacle case. "This pair of glasses with are outfitted with a small, high-resolution camera with a microphone on the right of the frame, within your vision," she explained, opening the case and showing it to the young lady. "It's almost like that pair of smart glasses that flopped, but this is custom-made and has a much longer battery life. Also, it streams live feed back to us, directly to the Blue Mermaid headquarters and me here in Yokosuka."

"Nice!" Kiyoko grinned as she took out the glasses and the charger. "The camera's pretty obvious and there's no lens for these, though," she observed. "Won't this seem overt?"

"Which is why you've got a cover story; you'll be using your own name, but you're personally assigned by the admiral to document this new ship with your camera."

"The pirate admiral?"

"Yes, the pirate admiral. Here, you've even got papers to back it up," the ex-Mermaid said, passing to her a few papers.

The young Mermaid was pleased. "Ooh, wow!"

"What part does the Harekaze play in this?" Mashiro asked.

"To put it simply, the Harekaze will ferry Miss Yamada somewhere outside this 'Terminal 14', within the NPF's territory, then drop her off at the base itself discreetly via skipper; our intelligence has already identified the location of this floating base, which I will tell you later. After that, you are to leave hostile waters and serve as a backup plan in case things go south on Kiyoko's side. Of course, this means that you will get to watch the stream live. And, of course, please maintain radio silence while in NPF territory."

"All good! That sounds exciting!" Akeno nodded energetically, already wanting to start the mission.

"You seem really enthusiastic, Miss Akeno," Mayuki grinned. "Itching for more action after the recent events?"

"Sorta. But all in all, this is just great!" the captain of the Harekaze replied happily.

"Don't we have to rendezvous with the rest of the training fleet?" Mashiro asked. "Do we have to inform them, or…"

"The rest of the training ships have been informed," Mrs Munetani assured her daughter. "This will be recorded as a 'live practice' in your student records, and the events of this mission will both count into your marks and go into your overall maritime portfolios."

"Ooh, nice!" both Harekaze girls replied together.

"But ma'am, if may I ask," the captain of the Harekaze pointed out, "aren't you retired from the Blue Mermaids? Why are you briefing us on this mission now?"

"Yes, and yeah, I am unlikely to brief for a spying mission," the principal nodded, already expecting the question. "However, the Blue Mermaids require that this mission is as covert as possible, at least for the initial phase, and have decided that having me do the briefing will prevent any potential spies from following our track. It's unlikely that a visit to a maritime high school will hide something, right?"

"That makes sense," Mashiro nodded. "Nobody would send a spy to a high school if they want any valuable information."

"Indeed. As for where you're headed exactly, the coordinates of Terminal 14 are written on a note inside the letter," Mayuki went on, passing the large yellow envelope to the Harekaze's captain. "You are permitted to inform your crew of your mission only after leaving the school. Until then, for the sake of security, do not mention this to anyone. Don't even take that note out until you board the Harekaze, that's what I'll recommend."

"Roger," both Mike and Shiro nodded together.

"Wait," Kiyoko suddenly thought of something. "How do I get off and return home?"

"Depends on the events of your stream," Mrs Munetani explained. "Harekaze's going to be always watching you, and if the captain and her commanding officers deem that you're in any significant danger they will rescue you."

"Full discretion to us?" Mashiro asked, surprised. "Aren't we gonna radio back first?"

"If Kiyoko's in trouble, seeking approval from us will take too long for a response. Out in the sea, you'll find that our ships and their captains, unless ordered otherwise, have a certain degree of independence in certain situations, and it is up to the captain to move in a course of action that secures the interests of the ship, her crew and the Blue Mermaids. But you girls already know and have experienced that."

The Harekaze girls nodded, smiling and somewhat proud, having been reminded of their weeks-long saga with the Totalitarian Disease.

"Besides, if the hostile forces will overwhelm the Harekaze, by all means, radio for backup. Your training fleet will be happy to assist, for one, especially the Musashi and Graf Spee."

"Ah, Moeka-chan!" Mike smiled, reminded of her childhood friend. "I wonder how she's doing. Mi-chan, too…"

"They're definitely doing well, Captain," the younger Munetani replied somewhat impatiently. "And we still have a job to do!"

"Ah, eager to start, are we? Well, that is all anyway. Miss Akeno, please take care of my precious daughter for me," the principal smiled. "As you know, she's rather unlucky~"

Shiro immediately blushed red. "M-Mom! Not in front of everyone!"

"Will do, Mrs Munetani!" Mike replied, grinning at the reaction from her second-in-command as Kiyoko giggled at the side.

"Alright, this is it, end of briefing. You three should get going now, you all have a ship to catch."

"Aye, ma'am!"

* * *

_(A few days later)_

_(Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean)_

The Harekaze gently cut through the calm Pacific waters, steaming towards her destination at speeds excess of 30 knots as the afternoon sun shone down on her.

A Kagero-class destroyer, Y-469 is the second ship to bear the name Harekaze and is the direct successor to the previous Harekaze, registry number Y-467. The ex-Okikaze, still incomplete back then, had most of the repaired machinery salvaged from the sunken ex-Harekaze fitted inside her, including her experimental high-pressure boilers and turbines and weapons, notable ones of which were the three US Mark 16 5-inch guns and turrets, one gun for each turret, as well as the Type 4 rocket launcher. As such, this new Harekaze is virtually and practically the same as the old Harekaze, and the crew had zero issues moving into their new home.

Down in the mess hall, Kiyoko was tinkering with her new gadget, making sure everything about the camera was working properly. Over the past few days, she had met the entire legend of a crew, and the girls have given nothing but their utmost respect and hospitality to the young, aspiring Blue Mermaid.

And, of course, she played with Isoroku, the ship's cat.

Who wouldn't?

As she worked on the "glasses", trying to get the connection out, Irako Mikan, the head of the mess hall, along with the assisting Kinesaki twins, watched with interest, the three of them having completed their duties for now.

"Oh, come on…" the Blue Mermaid muttered to herself, tapping on the tablet hooked up to her "glasses". "I'm not getting any feedback on my screen…"

"Maybe it's because it's not turned on?" Mikan suggested helpfully.

"Hm?" Kiyoko listened, looking around the frame. "... Oh. Yeah, it's not on, thanks Mikan," she replied sheepishly.

The head chef smiled. "Pleasure to help!"

Flicking the switch, Miss Yamada watched the tablet, waiting for the feed from the camera and mic to pick up.

All there was is a darkness-filled frame.

"Hm. Hello? Anybody there?" she talked to the camera, waving in front of it. "Yamada to Yokosuka, anyone picking this up? Earth to Harekaze, anything there?"

Still nothing.

She frowned, turning to the three mess crew girls. "Uh, are you guys supposed to look at a dark screen? Did the Blue Mermaids give me faulty equipment?"

"Uh-uh," the Kinesaki twins replied and shrugged together.

"Goddammit…" the Blue Mermaid muttered under her breath. "Now what? Abort mission? But the heads will probably demote me because of this, aren't they? I mean, it's not MY fault their equipment is shitty-"

"- and the guys responsible for this can't even put together half a screwdriver within a month…" the intercom trailed off as Kiyoko realized her voice was suddenly being broadcast throughout the ship. "What?"

"Harekaze to Earth, we hear you loud and clear!" Mike's voice spoke through the intercom. "You probably forgot to turn the stream on for your tablet!"

The young woman turned over to her device. Noticing a "play" button on the bottom left of the screen, she pressed it.

The live feed immediately showed up, showing the faces of the four girls in the mess hall.

"... Oh. I hope Principal Munetani didn't hear that."

"Oh, she sure did!" Nosa Kouko's voice spoke through the intercom cheerfully. "All of us did!"

"Oh. Shit."

Back in Yokosuka, Mayuki smirked to herself, watching the poor girl's face fall.

"I bet she's going to be all 'How dare you insult the Blue Mermaids' Technology Department! Off to a demotion you go! Hard labour for you!'" the Harekaze's imaginative secretary acted out.

"She isn't _that_ bad!" Mashiro argued back in defense.

"Oh, but what if she is?"

"She's not!"

"And how would you know that?"

"Goddammit, of course I know! She's my mother!"

Throughout the ship, various girls giggled at the commotion going on at the bridge.

"I know, but I bet she's all good on the surface, but deep inside she's got a sadistic personality!" Kouko went on. "She secretly personally tortures all the captured pirates we've gotten AND insolent Blue Mermaids and students as well!"

"That's far-fetched!"

"Wait, isn't this streaming all the way back to Yokosuka as well?" Irazaki Mei's voice pointed out.

Silence.

"I'm sorry, Principal Munetani!" the secretary quickly apologized.

Meanwhile on the bridge, Mashiro grinned victoriously as Kouko, paler than a white sheet, prayed that her marks wouldn't be deducted as punishment.

"Anyway, Ms Yamada," Akeno spoke through the intercom, her left hand holding onto Isoroku, "please come to the bridge!"

"Gotcha," was the reply from the feed being streamed on a television placed at the bridge as the camera was held up, disconnected from the tablet and worn on the Blue Mermaid. "See ya, you three!" Kiyoko waved back at the mess crew as she left.

It took a while, but Miss Yamada arrived at the bridge a few minutes later. "Hello! Oh, you've got a screen," she commented, stepping in.

"Yep!" Mike nodded.

"Aww, Isoroku!" the Blue Mermaid noticed, reaching out to grab the cat which had been released by the captain a while ago. "Whosh a gud admiral, whosh a gud admiral~" she cooed, rubbing the orange cat behind his ears.

Isoroku purred.

Mashiro sighed. "The cat still outranks me…"

"W-what if we run into pirates in these waters?" the helmsman, Shiretoko Rin muttered anxiously. "The whole plan will fall apart and we'll fail…"

"What are you saying?" Mei replied rather incredulously. "I'd _love_ to blast em _all_ out of the water with our torpedoes!"

"B-but we're supposed to be covert! And we can't take them all!"

"Enough," Mashiro interrupted firmly and the two girls fell silent. "Now, we're going to reach the drop-off point in 13 hours, is that correct?"

"Y-yes," the chief navigator replied meekly. "It'll be really dark…"

"We're counting on it," the captain grinned. "We'll be about 2 kilometers off the base, which is pretty close but we've got the advantage of stealth in the darkness. The Harekaze will be on full alert when we depart on the skipper, you and I, so no worries."

"Ah, okay," Kiyoko nodded, releasing Isoroku and watching him trot to Akeno's arms. "Wait, you and me?"

"Yep! I'll be driving the skipper, I'll just drop you off and return to the ship!" Mike grinned, now hugging the resident cat. "Nothing complex or dangerous, but of course we'll be dark."

"W-what if you two are spotted?" Rin asked timidly. "What if _we _are spotted?"

"Nah, we won't! The base is probably lit up as well, so we won't get lost either. Is that okay, Miss Yamada?"

"Sounds great," Kiyoko nodded.

"Good! Just pack your stuff and make sure your camera's charged up full by then, Miss Yamada!" the captain smiled.

"On behalf of everyone on board, good luck on your mission," Mashiro added on. "The Harekaze will assist you in any way if things go awry."

"Yep!" "Seconded!" "Yeah!" "Y-yes!"

"Aye," Tateshi Shima nodded quietly.

"Well, thanks guys!" the young Blue Mermaid bowed. "Well, guess I should go pack up and get some early, adequate sleep for the moment!"

* * *

_(13 hours later)_

"I… I didn't get enough sleep…" Kiyoko muttered, in plainclothes and with luggage in tow, as she stumbled into the dark bridge, the only light coming from the screen at the dimmest setting. Hell, there's even a blue light filter on at the max, half because it strains the girls' eyes much lesser, and half because red light was harder to spot in the dark.

"Morning to you too..." Mashiro yawned, also rather tired. "We're here."

For the first hour or so out of the thirteen hours, the young Blue Mermaid had packed her stuff, making sure she didn't miss anything before plugging in her "glasses" and her own backup battery pack, intending to charge them for the next day. However, more than half of the next twelve hours were spent being unable to sleep, partly because it was too early for her, and partly because she was way too anxious about her newest mission. So, in total, out of all the possible 12 hours of sleep she could've used, all she got was _five_ hours of actual sleep.

_Oh, crap,_ she had thought a few minutes early when her alarm went off. _This isn't a good start…_

Fortunately, she didn't miss out on packing her wires and battery, and she certainly remembered to grab her eyewear.

At the moment, the Harekaze had come to a complete stop, right at where she was supposed to.

"I'm fully awake at least!" Mike said cheerfully, clearly having a good night's sleep.

Out of nowhere, someone clapped both her hands in front of Miss Yamada, startling her. "Ah!"

"There you go!" Mei's cheerful voice spoke. "Feeling more awake now?"

"A-actually, yeah," the young Blue Mermaid observed, the sudden rush of adrenaline waking her up more. "Yeah, that worked. Thanks there."

The Chief Torpedo Officer gave a proud thumbs-up.

"There, in the distance," the captain pointed towards the port side of the ship. "See those dim lights there?"

Everyone looked out.

"Yeah." "Yes, I see it!" "Y-yeah…" "Yep!" "Aye." "Uh-huh?"

"Yeah, that's Terminal 14," Mike smiled. "And we're headed there. Not too bad for navigation now, right?"

"I-I suppose so... " Rin replied quietly.

"When I get back, I'll turn on a dim flashlight facing you guys so you all can find me," Akeno continued. "Until then, keep watch for any other vessels."

She went over to one of the speaking tubes. "Macchi, how's it up there?"

"All clear!" Noma Machiko's voice replied as the lookout looked around. "No vessels in sight!"

"Roger!" Mike replied back before walking up to Mashiro. "Well, we'll get going. Shiro, you've got command of Harekaze now! Take care of her and everyone for me!" she said, taking off her captain's hat and placing it on Shiro's head, even adjusting it for her.

In the dark, the second-in-command blushed. "Y-yes, Captain."

"See ya guys sometime later," Kiyoko waved back at everyone, and she got back various replies of goodwill before she left the bridge with Akeno

Navigating through the dark ship, both girls soon reached the port davits holding the skipper. For the next minute, they lowered the fast craft to the level of the deck and hopped on, both girls making sure that everything was secure.

"Alright, we're going down!" Akeno announced, setting the winch timer before quickly getting onto the skipper.

Within the next minute, the fast craft was lowered, and once the steel cables were off, the two girls sped away from the Harekaze, towards the floating pirate base.

And a few minutes later, as the skipper sped at speeds beyond 50 knots, the dim glow of Terminal 14 grew closer, until the base was just a few hundred meters away from the Harekaze's fast craft, the dormitory building now visible.

Cutting down on speed in order to be quiet, Akeno quietly navigated the skipper behind the building. Finding a flight of stairs, she pulled the boat over to it, stopping and opening the canopy.

"Alright, we're here," the captain said quietly. "This is where you get off, good luck on the mission."

"Mmh, thank you," Kiyoko replied as she disembarked, unsecuring and pulling her luggage out along with her.

The young Blue Mermaid turned around. "I hope I get to see you again soon."

"Oh, don't worry, we'll be watching out for you while you're away," Mike smiled. "Comrades at sea are family, after all."

Miss Yamada felt a warm sensation in her chest. "Misaki Akeno, it has been an honor meeting you, your ship and your crew," she replied, bowing.

"The pleasure's mine, Miss," the captain of the Harekaze smiled warmly. "Well then, take care."

"See you later."

And with that, Mike shut the canopy and the speeder headed off, back to the Harekaze.

Kiyoko watched the speeder leave into the darkness, knowing that her view was shared with everyone back with the Harekaze.

"Alright, now to work."

The Blue Mermaid turned around and climbed the stairs, starting off her covert mission.

* * *

The six-storey dormitory building of Terminal 14 was quiet, everyone else there asleep while the covert Blue Mermaid quietly walked along one of its open corridors, not wanting to accidentally wake anyone up.

_Akeno's probably back on the Harekaze and they're likely speeding off now,_ Kiyoko thought as she looked for a suitable place to hide. _They're probably watching everything here too._

_Knowing that, I feel like I'm not alone in this, _she smiled.

Looking around, she found a little corner just next to a room, typically out of sight from anyone walking along the corridor.

_Ah, that's a good spot!_

Quietly moving in, the young Blue Mermaid sat down, pulling her luggage next to her.

"Now, I'll just wait," she muttered to herself before yawning. "And catch some sleep too. What can go wrong?" she continued, closing her eyes.

* * *

_(A few hours later) _

"... ast call for the last ferry leaving for Outpost Base 10 at 1000. I repeat, this is the last call for the last ferry leaving for Outpost Base 10 at 1000. Yes, you, that's for _all_ of you still in the goddamn dorm! Get your asses up and run!"

"Nnh…" Kiyoko grunted as she woke up, stretching. "How long has it been?" she muttered to herself.

Sunlight had greeted the right side of her face. It was morning.

"Well, that was fast. I feel refreshed already, what woke me up-"

"Last fucking call for the last goddamn ferry leaving this terminal today!" the woman behind the intercom continued to shout. "I see two girls running towards me! Yes, get here!"

"Damn, how loud…" the Blue Mermaid mumbled. "And rude. Wait… last call for what?"

"News flash, news flash! This is the last ferry to Outpost Base 10, you know, where that shiny new allegedly-revolutionary ship _all_ of you here are assigned to is docked right at! This ferry leaves at 1000 sharp, it's 0944 now, and if you're not headed for Base 10 today you're clearly at the wrong terminal!"

"... Oh. Fuck!" Kiyoko, muttered, coming to realization. Quickly getting up, she grabbed her luggage and sprinted towards the stairs.

"That's right, that's right!" the intercom yelled as she frantically sped down the stairs. "Move, move, MOVE!"

Within a little over a minute, Miss Yamada ran over to the main dock, where a plain, white ferry, already with people on board, was moored at, waiting for the last few people to board.

"Why am I yelling, you say?! That's because I'm full of energy! And what better way to motivate everyone by sharing it with everyone?! And look, one more's running here!"

In front of the gantry was the source of the yelling; a young woman, no older than the Blue Mermaid herself, clearly happy and proud of her job. While she was shouting through the intercom with a wired mic, she had a clear energetic grin on her face.

"Now, who the hell are you?" she asked as Kiyoko stopped in front of her. "And what's that thing you're wearing on your face? Take 10 seconds to catch your breath first."

The young woman nodded, panting hard for a while before standing up straight. "Yamada Kiyoko, here by the Admiral's orders, ma'am! I'm supposed to document this new ship on her behalf, with this glasses-like camera I'm wearing now. I'm definitely not on the crew roster, because I'm supposed to slip in quietly."

The other woman looked at her in slight doubt.

The covert Blue Mermaid half-feigned a frown. "What? I've got papers!"

Opening her luggage, she pulled out her necessary documents, handing it over to the other woman, which read through it.

After a while, Kiyoko was handed the papers back. "You're clear. Keep those and get on. You don't wanna lose them."

"Yes, thanks!" she bowed.

"Hey, is everyone here?" the other woman shouted over to a girl, about 16 years old, holding a tablet.

"We've still got one left!" was the reply shouted back. "It's that orangehead!"

"Wait, waaaaaait!" a young female voice shouted from the direction of the dorm.

Turning around, the covert Blue Mermaid watched a girl dash out from the dorm, a backpack behind her. She looked to be around 16 years old, had a slim body and had medium-length orange hair in a messy hairstyle.

"Hold on, hold on!" she shouted at the ferry. "Wait for m-"

She tripped and fell to the ground.

Kiyoko's caring instincts quickly kicked in as she rushed over to the fallen girl. "Hey, are you okay?"

A thumbs-up was quickly raised. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Let me help you up!"

The orange-haired girl, with the help of the covert Blue Mermaid, got up and dusted the dirt and sand off her clothes. "Man, thanks," the former said as the both of them walked briskly over to the ferry.

"Oh, I know you," the other woman said. "Nakajima Aki. You almost didn't make it _again_, you know."

"Yeah, sorry, sorry!" she apologized.

"Try not to be like this all the time, alright? Luck isn't always on your side, you know. Both of you, get on board."

"Aye ma'am," was the reply from Aki as both her and Kiyoko, the latter grabbing her luggage, boarded the ferry.

"All are now accounted for!" the young secretary shouted at the older woman.

"Good! Off you go then!"

And with that, the woman retracted the gangway, the door was shut and the ferry began to head off.

Inside the ferry, Kiyoko and the girl she just met climbed the steps up to the open roof, having been just told that all the seats were taken. It seems like they had to sit on top.

"Hey, thanks for helping me out," the orange-haired girl said as the both of them sat down, leaning against the metal railing as the wind blew at their faces, the blue ocean visible around them as the ferry sailed across the smooth sea. "What's your name?"

The covert Blue Mermaid was not expecting this interaction. "I'm Yamada Kiyoko. I heard that woman call you, your name's Nakajima Aki, right?"

"Yep!" Aki beamed. "You can't miss the orange hair! Anyway, nice to meet you, Kiyo-chan! Let's be friends!"

Kiyoko blinked in surprise at her nickname, before breaking into a smile. "Sure thing, Aki! Let's get along!"

"Aye!" was the cheerful reply as the both of them looked back at the terminal they just departed as the ferry moved further away.

"So, what's that thing on your face?" Aki asked, pointing at the "glasses".

"Oh, this is for recording stuff on the new ship, I'm here via Admiral's orders," was the reply Kiyoko had already gotten used to giving. It's realistic, it's backed by documents, and most of all, it felt natural. Especially since she gets to use her real name.

"Ooh, nice!" the orangehead nodded in fascination. "Looks like the 'smartglasses' that flopped from that tech giant, don't you think?"

The covert Blue Mermaid chuckled. "Yep, it's like that one, only this one's not a pair of smartglasses. Only for long-duration recording, you see."

"Ah, that's good too."

"Well, what bout you?"

Aki grinned. "Classified."

"Eh? Not even a hint?"

"Yep, it's classified."

Kiyoko frowned. "Hey, not fair, I told you my job already!"

"Relax, it won't be classified for long," the orangehead assured the covert Blue Mermaid. "I'm just not supposed to talk bout it before then, and I'll keep my mouth shut. You'll see it in a few days, so hold on till then."

"Well, alright," the young woman relented. "But promise that what you said is true."

"It is!" Aki replied confidently. "I won't lie to a friend, I promise."

Kiyoko smiled, genuinely liking her first pirate friend. "I'm glad I met you, Aki."

"Likewise, Kiyo!"

Back on the Harekaze, Kouko gushed over the heartwarming creation of the friendship, everyone at the bridge also watching the live stream. "Aww, the spy has formed a new friend with the enemy! Will she keep her secret? Or will her friend discover the truth? Will she stick with her spy friend or betray her?"

"She won't be caught," a now-fully-awake Mashiro commented in slight annoyance. "But still, who knew she'll make a friend so quickly?"

"A pirate friend must be so cool!" Mei commented out loud. "You can blow stuff up with her!"

"B-but you'll be a criminal…" Rin muttered timidly. "You'll have to keep running away from everyone!"

"Sweet," Tama just said.

"Well, it's all good," Akeno smiled. "Let's just watch them more, I'm sure Aki's a nice person!"

* * *

Two hours have passed since then, and the distant shape of Outpost Base 10 had just appeared over the horizon.

"Oh, there it is!" Aki pointed while sharing a large bag of cheese balls she got below deck with Kiyoko, both of them starving as they missed breakfast. "Outpost Base 10!"

"Really?" the covert Blue Mermaid looked ahead.

"Yeah, that small black dot!"

"How are you so sure?"

"We're in the middle of nowhere and we're headed straight at a dot at the horizon, of course it's our destination!" the orangehead reasoned.

"That… yeah, that actually makes sense."

Over the next ten minutes, the ferry, speeding at 30 knots, got closer to its destination, and Outpost Base 10 had came into proper view. What fascinated Kiyoko the most was that half the base resembled an actual island, complete with a beach and simple but actual vegetation behind the main building. This was meant as a cosmetic design, from what Aki explained, so there was no real motive to it other than looks.

Of course, with that rear side of the base facing the ferry, the actual dock was almost fully hidden; what gave it away was the small section of concrete of the dock that protruded out from the left side of the island from the covert Blue Mermaid's view, as well as the massive cranes protruding out from behind.

As the island got closer, the Harekaze girls, Principal Munetani and the heads of the Blue Mermaids all focused, waiting for the new ship to come in view.

Not yet.

"You'll see her in no time," Aki commented as they both looked ahead at the base, having stood up and taking full advantage of the full-360 view from the top of the ferry.

Just about two hundred meters away from Outpost Base 10, the ferry slowed down turned port.

"Oh, we're going to enter from that way," the covert Blue Mermaid commented as she watched what she could see within the dock section.

Everyone else on the ferry (and some off the ferry) were also watching in anticipation, pressed against the starboard windows downstairs, wanting to catch a view of the new ship.

_Any time now…_

Then, as they approached the other side of Outpost Base 10, she came into view.

"There she is, there she is!" the orangehead pointed excitedly as the bow of a large ship came into view, with what seemed like a flat-topped superstructure, was now visible. A white "8" with a black painted shadow was painted on the bow, visible from the ferry.

Back at Yokosuka, Principal Munetani leaned forward, her eyes furrowing. "What kind of…"

As more of the vessel came into view, the covert Blue Mermaid realized that this flat-topped superstructure continued sternwards, the incomplete view making her unsure of how long it reaches back on this now-apparent capital ship. Underneath the flat-top were various light rapid-fire guns and two larger-caliber single mount guns in sponsons, which struck her as odd as all of them were inadequate for ship-to-ship combat for a vessel this size.

A few seconds later, the view of the main building moved away to reveal a long, narrow superstructure and smokestack placed off-center on the starboard side, around and slightly forward to the center length of the ship. It was then Kiyoko realized that this flat-top ran all the way through the length of the ship.

She had never seen a ship designed like this before.

"W-what's…" she muttered in awe.

"This is the Hornet, Kiyo-chan," Aki replied proudly as the ferry moved directly in front of the vessel, the dock no longer obstructing the view of as the tiny ferry moved across the bow of the large ship. "Registry number CV-8. 235 meters long at the waterline, 251.38 meters long overall, 25.37 meters wide at the waterline, overall beam of 35 meters and a draft of 8.5 meters at full load. Twenty thousand tons at standard load, 25,900 at full load. Third of the Yorktown-class, but the first to be completed and commissioned."

"Wait, there's more of these?!" Mashiro commented in surprise as the live feed moved to the starboard side of the ship, showing that side of the vessel as well as the superstructure from a better position. There was also a number "8" on the starboard side of the bow, painted in the same font and style.

"This design doesn't make sense," Akeno muttered in confusion. "She's got no effective guns against any surface target."

"Wait, those single mount guns-" Kouko looked down at her tablet, pressing a few things before coming to a realization. "No."

"What is it?" the Harekaze's second in command asked.

"Those single-mount open guns there. Those are US five-inch guns, the same caliber as our main armament, but those are Mark 12! Ours are Mark 16!"

"H-how are they expecting to fight with destroyer-tier guns…?" Mei leaned back in surprise.

"Not enough," Tama quietly commented.

"How many of them are there, even?" Mike asked out loud.

Back on the ferry, which was still moving and giving everyone on board a great view of the ship, Aki was smiling. "I wonder if he'll be able to hear me from here."

"Who?" the covert Blue Mermaid puzzled, turning to look at her friend.

"Oooooooooi!" the orangehead shouted as she waved at the Hornet, looking at what was probably the bridge of the vessel. "It's me! I know you're there! Come on and wave back at meeee!"

A few seconds later, someone on what was probably the right wing of the bridge appeared. Kiyoko could not get a close look at them, but Aki's positive reaction meant that it was likely her friend.

"Yay! There you are!" she shouted as the figure on the wing waved back. "Yo! Seems like I'm assigned to the Hornet as well! Good luck on your first command and my assignment! I'll see you once I get on board!"

The orangehead's smile widened. "He gave me a thumbs-up! Heheh, I knew he couldn't shout from there, that'd be unbecoming of a CO, eh? Ah, he's returned to the bridge. Must be busy."

"Hold on, CO?" Kiyoko asked as the ferry continued to move. "Your friend's the captain?!"

"Yep!" was the proud reply. "It's a coincidence I'm assigned here, he doesn't get to pick his ai-" she suddenly stopped, clamping her mouth shut. "Whoops!"

The covert Blue Mermaid grinned. "Well, go on!"

Aki grinned. "Classified."

"Oh, come on!"

"Just wait for a while!"

A few minutes later, the ferry had turned towards a platform somewhere behind the Hornet at the dock. Kiyoko observed the stern of the vessel as they got closer, the word "HORNET", painted in white, clearly visible to her.

"Hey, what does 'CV' stand for?" she asked Aki, the ship classification not only unfamiliar, but completely unheard of. "Wait, is that classified as well?"

"Yep!" was the happy reply. "You're learning fast, Kiyo!"

Miss Yamada groaned. "Guess I'll have to wait, then…" she muttered, watching the busy dock finish their final preparations.

Shortly after, the ferry stopped and moored to the small platform a short, safe distance behind the Hornet.

"Last stop, everyone out!" the intercom spoke. "Welcome to Outpost Base 10!"

"Alright, time to go," the orangehead declared as she grabbed her backpack while Kiyoko grabbed her luggage. "Food first, I'm starving! Then I'll get to my quarters!"

"And sleep?" the covert Blue Mermaid asked as she climbed down the steps.

"And sleep!" Aki grinned as they both walked towards the gangway together.

As Miss Yamada stepped onto Outpost Base 10 and climbed the stairs up to the dock level, she turned to look at the Hornet again.

_Hornet…_

_What exactly are you?_


	3. Two

_Two_

Captain Yamanami Saburo looked around the bridge of his new command, still worried about her.

It felt like yesterday when the now-16-year-old pitched the concept of a new type of ship and its unique compliment of certain craft of different uses to the Admiral herself almost a year ago, and after hours of talking, presentation and negotiation in a conference room, going through all the different blueprints of various classes as well as ones for multiple designs of the special crafts, the boy got the enthusiastic approval from the head of the NPF. While all his blueprints he had in possession were entrusted to the faction's top engineers and analyzed, he had successfully pushed that the Yorktown-class should have the privilege of being refined and actually built first over the preceding Lexington-class design, with further reasoning allowing the then-not-yet-captain to suggest the craft designs that he would like to have improved and used first on at least two of the three new ships, but for that the final decisions were not what he thought would be optimal. In fairness, this was all under probation; only if they turn out successful will the more advanced designs of ships and crafts be improved and finally built.

After that meeting, Saburo signed up as a cadet and went for the Command path provided for him, soon being whisked away to a floating naval academy, which happened to be where the first few batches of operators for the craft he had recently pitched would be trained at. There, he met a certain orange-haired girl which was going to be one of those new "operators", and for the next months both Aki and him had become close friends, going through thick and thin together. The two inseparable pair were soon noticed by everyone around, including the higher-ups who were observing everyone in that academy. Hell, they even attended the classes and the practices of one another, learning from each other during their free time. Aki was unofficially just as capable as Saburo when it comes to commanding a ship, and Saburo was just as unofficially capable of operating one of the new crafts decently as Aki can.

_Ah, Aki,_ he smiled, relaxing as he thought back to minutes earlier, having heard familiar shouts while in the middle of his thoughts earlier on. Heading out to the starboard wing of his bridge, he noticed the unmistakable orangehead waving at him with surprise, not expecting her to be assigned to the Hornet as well. When he got the letter for his equally-surprising assignment two weeks ago and Aki hadn't, he thought that it was the last time he'll ever see his friend for months. Until just minutes ago, of course.

_Seems like her letter came late._

Seeing a few men enter while his XO, the only one of his crew at the bridge currently, minded her own business on her tablet, the new captain remembered why he was worried, and his brows furrowed again.

Executive Officer Kubota Aomi, glancing around as the technicians sent by the builders did their inspections on the bridge, noticed that her captain had things in his mind.

"What's wrong?" she asked, putting her tablet down.

"It's Hornet, Aomi," he replied. "Her builders' trials are pushed back to after she's commissioned and are compressed with our own sea trails. Her boilers and turbines aren't broken in yet, we don't know if she'll work fine when she's pushed, all her weapons have never fired a single shot before, everything's untested. What if there's an issue and we have to head back for repairs?"

"Relax, Captain," the XO comforted the young man, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be fine. The fleet put in its best for the Yorktowns, this will be a shakedown that we'll definitely pass. Sea trials after commissioning is a common occurrence throughout the world as well, and for us we've received no problems so far."

Saburo sighed and nodded. "You're right, I'm worrying way too much. Thanks."

"Anything," Aomi smiled, the black-haired girl with a ponytail returning back to her work. "Oh, and I've just received word that the last of the crew has arrived on the last ferry. As we both already know in advance, hearing Aki shouting at you," she grinned.

"Haha, yeah," Saburo laughed. "I wasn't expecting the wing she's in to be sent to the Hornet as well."

"Well, it makes sense," the executive officer commented, "Hornet's the first of her type to be ready. Still, you two just can't get away from each other, huh."

"Aye," the captain nodded as he let a technician walk behind him. "We're always together, whether we intentionally make it that way or get pulled together by coincidence."

"But you picking me was no coincidence, right?" she smiled

"Not at all. Let's see."

He picked up his own tablet and selected Aomi's name from the roster. "Kubota Aomi, we went to the same academy, you're the only one in school undertaking two specializations at the same time. Your academic results are average, but when it came to practice sessions you scored exceptionally well. Your specializations and practice marks are why I chose you as my XO-"

"- because you value actual work over tests, and you also want a second-in-command that not only knows how to command, but also understand those crafts and their pilots firsthand," Aomi finished, having heard the explanation countless times.

"Yep, glad you're familiar with that," Saburo grinned, putting his tablet down. "A little tangent, though, why are we still referring to them as 'crafts'?"

The XO scratched her cheek in thought. "I've got no idea. You're right, why are we still referring to them like this?"

"Well, maybe so that we won't directly reveal their true nature to a hypothetical audience who probably have prior knowledge of what they are, thus preventing them from being immediately robbed of their remaining enthusiasm for said hypothetical big reveal?"

Aomi blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Oh, it's nothing," the captain waved off, chuckling. "You know I like spouting shit like that from time to time."

"No, I mean, I understand what you're saying, it's just that if we're part of a 'story' being observed by a hypothetical audience I think they'd have already figured everything out by now thanks to all the red flags around," the XO smirked. "If they've got the prior knowledge, surely they know what type of ship Hornet is already."

_Don't you?_

"True, true," Saburo chuckled. "But minus our made-up hypothetical-4th-wall-breaking bullshit, it's probably because we're used to referring to them with the mere term 'crafts' outside of the academy. We're supposed to keep this classified until a few more days later, after all."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," the ponytailed girl nodded before tensing up a bit. "Back on topic, though, I've wanted to ask you this for a while but…"

She took a deep breath. "No offense or anything, but you could've picked Aki before me."

The captain looked up. "Oh, so _that's_ what's been bothering you these days?"

The XO hesitated before nodding, suddenly feeling meek. "She's unofficially just as good as commanding a ship, after all…"

Saburo smiled, realizing that this was the reason Aomi had been rather reluctant to run into the orangehead. "No, you're not my second choice. Rather, you're my first. Hell, Aki told me never to pick her for anything on the bridge right from Day 1."

"Huh?" the XO looked up in surprise. "Really?"

"Aki may enjoy being on a bridge giving orders from time to time, but that doesn't mean she likes being on the bridge _all_ the time," the captain explained. "She established that she's not the type to love commanding a ship to me early on in our academy days. Hell, I remember exactly what she said. 'I don't want to be a captain, and if you become one don't you dare pick me as your XO!'"

Captain Yamanami smiled to himself, turning to look out of a window, up into the skies. "So, the bridge isn't her place. She'll only be her energetic, carefree self in the sky. Plus, she satisfies her command cravings by being the leader of her own squadron, so it's all good."

"I see…" Aomi nodded, no longer feeling like a spare wheel. "I thought you'd…"

"Hey, look," Saburo turned around and put a hand on the girl's shoulder, now his turn to comfort his XO, "you're supposed to be here; you're not filling up for somebody else. You know me, I won't put someone in a higher rank over the other just because said someone's closer to me. I don't roll that way."

The captain licked his lips and looked away for a moment. "Well, of course I'd try to pick people I'm friends with if given the choice, you included, but I never let relationships be the decisive factor in my judgement. Goddamn, do I sound like a hypocrite now? Jesus Christ, I'm not good at this am I?"

Aoki giggled, the familiar behavior of Saburo pleasing to her. "You're fine, I completely understand what you mean. Glad that I cleared things up, then, that's a good load off my chest."

"Glad you feel better. Hey, are you guys done here?" he called out to the technicians in the bridge.

One of them gave a thumbs-up, and they all proceeded to leave the bridge.

"Oh, that's nice. A few more things and we'll be ready, so let's get to it," the captain continued.

The XO nodded in agreement, returning to her duties.

Around the same time, after clearing the boarding checks, getting onto the Hornet and spending a good amount of time finding their way around the new ship, bumping into members of the crew as well as builders' technicians along the way, Aki and Kiyoko finally found the mess hall.

And right at that time, lunch was in progress, and something black being served attracted the orangehead's full attention.

"Ohmygod, _spaghetti al nero di seppia_!" she exclaimed in pure excitement, grinning widely. "They're serving it today! Oh boy, I'mma go get myself some!"

She dashed off immediately after, leaving Kiyoko behind.

_Well,_ the covert Blue Mermaid thought with a chuckle, _I'll go look for seats._

A few minutes later, Kiyoko, having found seats and waited for the orange-haired girl to return, watched in amusement as Aki was in the process of slurping down an entire tray of black Italian noodles. "Is it that good?"

"Shure ish!" the orangehead nodded, her mouth full of pasta and her lips and chin stained with squid ink. "Thish ish zee shih!"

The orange-haired girl swallowed her mouthful and offered a full fork. "Wanna try some? I swear it's better than the aglio olio they're serving there too."

Kiyoko looked at the black pasta in front of her. "Doesn't look really enticing, does it?"

"Never judge a book by its cover," Aki grinned. "I thought the same too until I actually tried some."

Raising an eyebrow, the covert girl took the fork and gingerly tried a little strand… before her eyes widened and she proceeded to down the entire fork. "Holy hell!"

"Told you!" Aki beamed proudly. "It's squid ink spaghetti. You can go grab some, aren't ya starving?"

"Ah, right," Kiyoko replied, remembering her growling stomach. "I'll be right back."

While the covert Blue Mermaid looked at the various dishes while waiting in line, there was a little commotion back on board the Harekaze. The crew, which had all been provided connection to the stream, was abuzz, most of them assuming that pirates ate barely-edible meals like slop or hardtack. But here is the Hornet, with various delicious dishes being served to her crew, and the Harekaze crew was surprised with this new information.

And back in the mess hall, a certain Head Chef was especially engrossed in the footage.

"Look at that…" Mikan muttered as she watched Kiyoko get her tray before requesting the black pasta, which was promptly dumped onto it. "Everything else is simple, like the potato salad, mashed carrots and that vegetable soup there. But they look delicious!"

"An army marches on its stomach, after all," Akeno commented, just eating her lunch at the moment. "I wasn't expecting food like that on a pirate ship, I thought they'd have gruel and similar stuff."

"Maybe this is for a special occasion?" Homare asked.

"Well, Aki did identify _spaghetti al nero di seppia_ right away, so it's definitely not her first time eating that," the head cook pointed out as Miss Kiyoko headed back to her seat.

"I wonder if we can have food like theirs," Akane wondered out loud. "It's been some time and we've been on the same layout for days."

The captain of the Harekaze looked down, somewhat slightly sullenly, on her plate of curry rice, realizing how many days it had been with the same meals. "It's been a while, huh."

Something sparked in Mikan's eyes. "Alright, that's it! Captain, do we have internet service out here?"

"Huh?" Akeno sat up, surprised. "Yeah, we have now. Why?"

"Can I alter our meal plans? Let's have something different for dinner, even if just for dinner!"

"Oh? Uh, hmm…"

She looked back at her plate of curry rice again and looked back up at the head cook, easily coming to a decision. "Yes, please!"

"Alright!" the head chef replied energetically, inspired as she grabbed the mess hall's intercom mic. "Everyone! That pirate vessel may bigger than our Harekaze, but we're not losing out to them at food! Tonight, dinner will be Italian!"

The crew of the destroyer all cheered in response.

A few minutes later, as Kiyoko was halfway into her tray, Aki finished up hers. "Boy, that hit the spot! Wait till they serve their burgers! We call them Blue Castles because they're literally White Castle sliders, we just bought the patties in bulk, stock them on our ships and the cooks prepare them in mostly the same way as White Castle would before serving them as our own."

"Oh, really?" an amused Miss Yamada grinned as she took another bite. "Really extending out to corporate piracy, are we?"

"Heh, perhaps," the orangehead grinned. "But the NPF isn't a corporation, plus we're using those meat for ourselves. I guess the fleet's technically just a massive customer."

Just then, Aki seemed to have spotted someone in the crowd. "Oh, it's him! Oi! Sabu! Here!"

Hearing someone shout at him, Captain Yamanami turned his head to the source.

_Oh, it's her!_

Grinning, he walked towards the orange-haired girl and sat down next to her, his tray also holding the black pasta. "Letter came late?"

"Letter came a week late!" Aki grinned and the both of them hugged.

Kiyoko watched the pair, smiling. She was not expecting the captain to be this young, and the Hornet being his first command, too.

"So great to see you again! I thought you'd be posted to the Enterprise!"

"We really are the inseparable pair, eh?" the orangehead laughed as they broke out of the hug. "How's your new command, Sabu?"

"Pretty okay so far," was the happy reply from the captain. "But you know she hasn't even started her builders' trials yet, Aki. Still sorta worried."

"Just like you to worry about the details," she grinned. "She'll be fine!"

"Aye, she probably will! Hey, who's this?" the captain asked, noticing the covert Blue Mermaid.

Kiyoko quietly gulped, nervous that the captain may discover her cover.

"Oh, this is Kiyoko! She's sent by the admiral to come 'document' the ship, so says her," Aki explained.

"Huh." Saburo replied calmly before frowning, looking straight at Miss Yamada's face. "... What's that on your face?" he asked, pointing at her eyewear.

"Oh, new gadget, camera and mic on a spectacles frame!" the covert Blue Mermaid quickly said, easing back into her cover story. "Yeah, it's like those flopped smartglasses, but this is just a cam and mic."

"Oh, I see," the captain nodded. "But how do I know you're not lying?"

"Oh, I've got papers," she answered, reaching out and showing her papers to the captain.

Of course, the captain read it carefully.

Deep inside, the covert Blue Mermaid felt like her heart could burst open at any time.

"Huh. Seems legit," Saburo nodded as he returned the documents back to Kiyoko. "Well, welcome on board the Hornet. How's the food so far?"

"Oh, it's great!" Kiyoko beamed. "I wasn't expecting this!"

"First time trying the black pasta?"

"Yep!"

"Aye, that's natural," the captain smiled as he took a fork of his _spaghetti al nero di seppia._ "You'll be glad to know that this will be served every Thursday, so you don't need to take it like a sacred treat. Unlike Aki here, of course," he grinned.

"Really?!" the orange-head perked up, ecstatic. "You're not pulling my leg, are you?!"

"Nope! I got to basically choose the menu, and when it came to the pasta section I picked the NPF special for Thursdays," Saburo grinned. "I love this as much as you do, so it's something you'll have regularly."

"Aw, yes! Hahaha!"

"We've got more pasta and Japanese curry rice in our menu compared to other ships, too," he pointed out. "Of course, that's got to do with the nature of our special 'craft operators'."

"Oh? Yeah, makes sense," Aki nodded. "We need more carbs, after all."

"Yep, plus the curry rice isn't the standard curry rice we have back in the academy. Guess what, it's a Hornet special, omu-curry rice developed by the cook herself!" he replied eagerly.

"Oh, interesting!"

"Oh, hold on," Saburo suddenly remembered. "Hey, Kiyoko, if you're here discreetly and nobody else knows you're here, you don't have your quarters."

Miss Yamada blinked, realizing the issue. "Oh."

"Don't worry bout it. Aki, do you mind sharing your quarters with her?"

"Oh, sure!" the orangehead nodded. "Does my room have more than one bed, though?"

"Nope, but I think there's a hammock stored somewhere in the wardrobe," the captain replied. "The fleet has one packed away in each quarters of every ship, just like they've briefed us back in the academy."

"Ooh, nice. Well, I'll bring Kiyoko to my quarters later, once we're done with lunch."

Miss Yamada smiled. "Thanks for the arrangement, Captain!"

"Oh, no problem at all," the captain smiled back. "After you settle in with Aki, you should come to the bridge, Miss…"

"Miss Yamada."

"Ah, alright, Miss Yamada," Saburo noted. "But yeah, come to the bridge, we're leaving Base 10 in about, hm, an hour and half," he said, checking his phone. "Aki too, of course, but do you want to sleep instead?"

"Oh, I'll sleep after!" the orangehead grinned. "I feel refreshed already! Food did the trick."

"Gotcha," the captain nodded, taking another mouthful of his pasta, his lips just as black as the lips of the two girls. "I'll see you both on the bridge later, then. Oh, by the way, you seem a bit too quiet, Miss Yamada."

"E-eh?" Kiyoko blinked, surprised.

"I mean, I just met you, but you don't talk much," Captain Yamanami noted.

"You think so?"

"At least for now, ye. Don't feel shy opening up to us, we're all basically family on board."

"Ah…" the covert Blue Mermaid nodded, remembering the same your-crew-is-your-family stuff that was taught back at her maritime high school. Suddenly the Hornet felt a lot more familiar to her. "Sure thing, Cap'n!" she smiled.

"That's good!" Saburo nodded, pleased, and the conversation continued for a while.

* * *

"There!" Aki beamed proudly as she finished tying up her end of the hammock to the metal bar mounted on her side of the wall, hopping off the chair she was standing on.

"Yeah, this is straight!" Kiyoko nodded as the orangehead stood beside her to see where the covert Blue Mermaid would be sleeping in for herself.

"The room's sorta a bit more crowded, but there's just enough space for both of us," Kiyoko commented

"Aye!" the orangehead grinned. "We'll share the desk and chair meanwhile, of course"

"Yep. Whoever came up with this hammock idea's a genius, and there's one hammock in each quarters, right?"

"Ye. The fleet came up with the idea for hammocks just in case we run out of quarters, you know, like if we have more crew than rooms, rescue people from a sinking ship or something, or perhaps we're just ferrying a large amount of people around. They selected hammocks over folding beds because it's much easier to store, much easier to bring around and easier to hang around as long as it's somewhere suitable," Aki explained.

"Aye, that makes sense."

Meanwhile on the Harekaze, there were a few immediate calls from various people for hammocks to be brought on board.

"Oh, and hey, we need to fasten this to the floor," the orangehead remembered, bringing up an adjustable white strap. On one end was a suction cup with a pressure lever, and on the other end was a snap hook. "Of course, it's to prevent you from slamming into the wall in rough seas.

"Ah, neat!" Kiyoko smiled. "I'll put it on myself."

"Sure!"

Taking the strap, the covert Blue Mermaid lengthened it out before putting the suction cup on the floor, pressing down and locking the lever in place. Hooking the hook onto the provided ring on the hammock, she slowly shortened the strap until it was barely loose.

"Alright, done," she said, satisfied, as she stood up. "Time to go to the bridge?"

The orangehead checked her phone in response. "Yep, we should go. About half an hour more till we leave."

"I hope we won't get lost again..." Kiyoko muttered as the both of them exited the quarters.

"Me too," Aki agreed as she shut and locked the door. "But still, we're early, we can't possibly be lost for 30 minutes, can we? I mean, we aren't _that_ bad."

Miss Yamada chuckled as the both of them walked down the corridor. "Of course not, we'll definitely find our way. Besides, we can ask around if we do get lost."

"Yeah, that's true."

"This is your first assignment too?!" a passing girl replied in surprise to another girl as they passed both Aki and Kiyoko.

"Yeah, it is!" was the reply. "Weird, everyone I've met so far are fresh graduates!"

"Yeah! And from what I got after asking around everyone's exam marks are borderline passes!"

The orangehead and the covert Blue Mermaid slowed down and stopped, listening even more closely at the conversation they were eavesdropping on.

"Really? How much did you get?"

"52."

"51! Is there anyone on board that got even a B?"

"Don't think so. But why pick us? Over an A-crew?"

"Beats me. But hey, either way we're here and not on a destroyer, so lucky us!"

"Interesting," Aki pondered as the two other girls walked out of view, continuing their conversation. "I think I know why he did this," she added, smiling to herself

"Did what?" Kiyoko asked curiously.

"Pick a fresh, barely-'passed' crew," was the reply from the orangehead. "I didn't mention this, but the higher-ups of the fleet only allocate the 'operators' and service crews of those 'crafts', while everyone else is handpicked by Saburo himself."

"Eh, really?"

"Yeah, and he had free range over his choices from what I heard," Aki continued as the both of them continued walking. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure I know why he chose this crew; I'm his best friend, after all!"

"What do you think?"

"Well, the answer's simple; the crew's-"

The orangehead, not looking at where she was going, accidentally walked into a girl, who fell down on her butt.

"Oh, crap! I'm sorry!" Aki quickly apologized, quickly bending down. "I'll help you up! Are you okay?"

"Y-yes, I'm fine, t-thank you…" was the meek reply as the girl was helped up. "O-oh, it's you! But i-it's my fault, not yours…"

The timid girl, slightly shorter than Aki, her brown hair tied up in two medium ponytails, quickly bowed down in apology. She wears a simple grey cotton jacket, with pockets on both sides of her jacket's belly area, separated by the zipper, and a short black skirt.

"I-it's my fault, I wasn't looking!" Aki quickly responded, not noticing that the girl she just met seemed to have already identified her. "Don't apologize for something you didn't do!"

"O-oh, okay! I'm sorry for apologizing!" was the scared reply, the girl genuinely shivering as she bowed down again.

"N-no, that's not- you're not at fault here!" the orangehead replied anxiously before stopping, calming herself down.

Getting an idea, Aki hugged the nervous girl, who initially squeaked and jumped up, gently stroking her back, comforting the anxious girl. "Hey, it's alright," she said soothingly. "It's my fault, don't worry about it."

Slowly, the twintailed girl calmed down and returned the hug herself. "T-thank you, I'm just timid like this, i-is all."

On the Harekaze, an amused few crew members on the bridge turned their heads to look at the helmsman, reminded by the girl of the destroyer's timid chief navigator. Rin, obviously noticing that, began to sweatdrop. "W-what is it...?"

"The next time Rin freaks out, shall we all hug her to make her feel better?" Kouko smiled.

"E-ehh, I don't think-"

"It's alright, Rin-chan!" Mei shouted elatedly, pulling the poor helmsman into a tight hug.

"E-ehh?!"

"You can let go of me, I feel better already…" the timid girl on the Hornet quietly said.

"Oh, no problem," the orangehead replied, releasing her grasp on the now-calm girl. "You look sorta familiar, actually…"

"I w-wasn't expecting that hug, Miss Nakajima. Nobody r-really did that to me before…"

Aki and Kiyoko were surprised. "Oh, you know my name too?" the orangehead gasped. "We have met before, I take it?"

"N-not directly, I was just from the same academy as you, in one of the Command classes. Also, I just know everyone on board this ship anyway, I read all of your profiles," the girl replied, now smiling sweetly. "I'm Moriai Kazumi, secretary of the NPF Hornet."

"Oh, I think I know you," Aki realized. "You're the one from the other Command class that's always hiding behind everyone else!"

"Y-yes…" was the sheepish reply. "I-I'm not the bold type…"

"Heh, no wonder I found you familiar. But you don't recognize Kiyoko here, right?"

Kazumi looked at the covert Blue Mermaid. "Nope. Who are you? What's… that?" she asked, pointing at the older girl's face.

The covert Blue Mermaid wondered how many times people had asked her that very same question about her "eyewear", but it was obviously under understandable circumstances. "They're for recording, like those flopped smartglasses except that this is just a camera and mic that I can't control. For the Admiral, I'm sent here to document this new ship."

"Oh?" the timid girl pondered curiously. "Well, I guess that makes sense. Welcome onboard, Miss Yamada."

"Thanks," Kiyoko bowed politely. "Oh, yeah, we've been invited to the bridge by the Captain. Can you lead us the way, please?"

"O-oh, sure thing!" Kazumi nodded, having already warmed up to the two girls she just met, or technically one girl she just met and one she vaguely knew for quite a while already. "Here, follow me."

The orangehead and the "Admiral's documenter", led by the secretary of the Hornet herself, resumed their walk.

"S-so, is there anything you two want to ask me about?" Kazumi asked as they turned a corner and approached a flight of stairs.

"Oh, actually yeah," Aki replied as they reached the steps, the timid girl going ahead first while Kiyoko followed behind, and the orangehead going up last. "I heard something 'bout the crew being barely-passed freshies from some girls, is that true? I mean, you're a freshie too, and you've got the crew list."

"Oh, so you guys a-actually caught that," Miss Moriai replied, stumbling a bit with her words. "Not counting you, your type of crew and the others related to you guys, everyone's selected by the Captain himself, and yeah, everyone's fresh graduates on board and their written test marks aren't actually as well, including me. But fresh graduates and mediocre marks' half the story, y-you see, because the captain uses a different criteria of selection than standard. B-but, Miss Nakajima can easily guess what it is, right?"

"Yep!"

"Do tell," was the kind offer as they stepped away from the stairs and walked down another corridor.

Aki grinned, knowing the answer. "He selects his people based on how they actually perform in practice, right?"

"Correct!" Miss Moriai nodded. "T-the crew may have barely passed their _written_ tests, which is what standard procedure counts, but he picked us after personally looking at recordings of how we do stuff in our training exercises, you see. What does Captain Yamanami like to say whenever you both watch those exercises go on, Miss Nakajima?"

"Easy! 'If I'm captain of my own ship, I won't give a damn about your test marks beyond passing, but I sure as hell will care about how you actually do stuff!'" the orangehead grinned, thinking about that memory. "Wait… you've been watching us as well, haven't you?"

"I-I didn't mean it!" the secretary frantically waved her hands. "I-it's just that it's not hard noticing the both of you back then, and I j-just happened to catch on one day. I wasn't spying on you both!"

"Chill, chill, I'm not suspecting you for anything!" Aki quickly replied. "It's just... odd that you noticed us too."

"W-well, I'm meek but I also pay attention to my surroundings," was the calmed reply as the trio began to climb more stairs again. "But yes, Captain Yamanami picks his crew that way, and that's why we're not on destroyers or cruisers now. He probably wants us to grow together as a crew, too, so I'm glad I got this opportunity."

"Interesting selection choice," Mashiro commented back on the Harekaze, as her mother thought the same thing back in Yokosuka.

"Our crew's somewhat the same too, right?" Mike grinned. "We aren't the top rung, but we're a fine crew and can do our stuff well! Isn't that right?"

Nods and comments of agreement came from everyone else on the bridge.

A while later, somewhat out of breath, the three girls finally entered the bridge of the Hornet on that odd, offset superstructure.

"Oh, hello there, Miss Moirai," Saburo greeted. "And hey, you two are here too!"

"H-hello, Captain," the secretary meeky greeted. "Moirai Kazumi, reporting for duty, sir!" she continued, saluting.

"At ease, Miss Moirai. No need to be this tense."

"Y-yes, sir." she relaxed

"Hello there too, Kazumi," Aomi greeted. "Kubota Aomi, I'm the XO here. Oh, there's Aki and that girl sent by the Admiral," the XO noted. "... What's that on your face?"

"It's a camera on a spectacles frame, doesn't do anything except record video and audio feed," Miss Yamada explained yet again.

"Like those flopped smartglasses, minus the 'smart'," Aki grinned, noticing the annoyance on the covert Blue Mermaid's face. "Everyone's been asking her that the whole day."

"Understandable," Captain Yamanami smiled. "The crew's curious about them, so I hope you wouldn't mind."

"Oh, sure, I'll try not to be tired of it," Kiyoko nodded, sighing. "I should get used to this…" she muttered.

"Here you go," Aomi said to Kazumi, passing a tablet over to her. "This is yours now. I've settled everything before you came, so don't worry about everything prior and concentrate on what happens from now on. It's your time to do your job, Secretary."

"Y-yes ma'am," was the meek reply. "I won't disappoint you."

The XO nodded. "Do your best. Meanwhile, we've got three more people to wait-"

"I'm here!" a voice interrupted as a girl, sporting medium, blonde hair, jogged into the bridge, wearing a standard black t-shirt with blue shorts, sneakers and a white pantyhose.

"Nice, make that two," Aomi corrected herself.

"Gunnery Officer Utsumi Akako, reporting for duty, sir!" the newcomer saluted, a wide grin on her face. "Thank you for selecting me as your gunnery officer, captain!"

"At ease," Saburo smiled. "No need to be too formal around here, just be yourself. I'm not strict unless the situation calls for it."

"Oh, aye, that makes it much better!" the blonde girl replied happily, easing down. "Captain, I know it's sudden, but may I ask a potentially personal question?"

"Oh? Sure, go ahead."

"Aye! I've read the provided list of crew members I have, and I've noticed that you the only guy on the ship. The academy I'm from didn't have any boys, but why aren't there any other guys on board?"

"Ahh, I knew that'd be asked eventually," the captain smiled, scratching his chin. "Well, short answer, that's out of my control. Full explanation, you've mentioned that there's no boys in your academy; it's the same everywhere in the fleet, and that's because the NPF's recruitment sector genuinely couldn't find more than a few males to recruit; I'm the only exception for my academy too, for example. Something to do with boys generally not being interested in a life at sea, no doubt thanks to the massive global influence of the Blue Mermaids."

This was the first time the Blue Mermaids were mentioned by anyone from the NPF. Curious about the captain's opinion and wanting to prod further, Kiyoko decided to speak up. "Influence of the Blue Mermaids?"

"Aye, influence of the Blue Mermaids," Saburo nodded, a slightly annoyed look on his face at the mention of the peacekeeping organization. "I mean, to be fair, I just don't understand the logic behind the organization's foundations. Like they said in their brochure, 'women began manning warships to safeguard floating cities and sea lanes without giving the impression of war in doing so'. But how does that 'impression of war' work? I mean, what sort of difference is there? It's still a goddamn warship sailing around."

"Yeah, he's been puzzling over that for a long, _long_ time," Aki grinned as Kiyoko raised an eyebrow, finding the captain's question… surprisingly valid, all things considered. "He's mostly ruffled about the effect of boys thinking that warships are 'girly', except submarines."

"Yeah, goddammit, what's wrong with guys on a surface ship?" the captain agreed fervently. He opened his mouth, about to continue, but decided to shut it and finish off the topic. "So, yeah, I can only find girls to select as part of my crew."

"And not because you may be a massive pervert that wants to be surrounded by girls, Sabu?" the orangehead teased, a sly smile on her face.

"You wish," Saburo teased back, booping his best friend's nose. "Still," he blushed slightly, "I'm lying if I said I've never been, hm, _conscious_ about only girls all around me. I've definitely gotten used to it over all these months, though."

"Oh? You sure 'bout that?" both Aki and Aomi asked together teasingly, looking at the captain in a certain hinting way.

"O-oi, yes I have!" was the embarrassed, quick reply. "Don't gang up on me!"

"Fine, fine," the orangehead and XO relented, Kiyoko, Kazumi and Akako grinning behind.

"Oh, yeah," the blonde said, "who are you guys?"

"Kubota Aomi, XO."

"I'm Nakajima Aki, leader of one of the assigned squadrons of those 'crafts' you were briefly told about when you were initially assigned. Still classified info, wait for a few days!"

"M-Moriai Kazumi here, Ship's Secretary."

"Yamada Kiyoko, I'm not part of the crew. I'm just under Admiral's orders to document this ship, so here I am."

"Ooh, nice!" was the reply from the blonde girl. "What's that thing on your face?"

Kiyoko sighed as the orangehead stifled a chuckle. "A camera and mic on a spectacles frame. Like those flopped smartglasses, but this can only record video and audio."

"Ooh, I see," was the cheerful reply. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all!"

"Likewise." "Yeah!" "A-aye!" "Mmh!"

"And two more to go," Captain Yamanami commented, "our navigational officer and, uh, 'classified' operations officer."

He checked his phone. "Oh hey, just a while more. I hope they turn up soon."

"Hello," a quiet voice called out as the two remaining bridge crew members turned up together. One of them had long, brown hair, which was whom the "Hello" came from, while the other had medium brown hair of a similar color, both of them in their casuals. While both wore t-shirts of different colors and had white sneakers of different brands, the long-haired girl wore loose jeans while the other wore shorts.

And no, they do not look like sisters.

"Hi!" the medium-haired girl called out. "Saito Naomi, Fli- uh, 'Special Craft' Operations Officer, reporting for duty!"

"And I'm Sazama Mari, Navigational Officer," the long-haired girl followed. "Pleased to meet you all!"

"Welcome aboard," Saburo nodded. "I'm your captain, Yamanami Saburo."

"Kubota Aomi here, XO."

"I-I'm Moriai Kazumi, secretary…"

"Utsumi Akako! Gunnery Officer!"

"Nakajima Aki here! I'm the leader of a squadron of those special craft!"

"I'm Yamada Kiyoko, I'm sent by the Admiral to document this ship. And this thing, this that I'm wearing," the covert Blue Mermaid quickly continued, pointing at her face, "is a spectacles frame that has a camera and mic mounted on it."

"Sorta like those flopped smartglasses, minus the 'smart'," Aki finished, grinning.

"Yes!"

"Ooh, nice!" Naomi replied. "Nice to meet you all, too! I hope we'll get along!"

"We will!" Saburo, Aki, and Akako replied together as Aomi and Kazumi nodded instead.

"Good to meet you all," Mari smiled. "I'll do my best!"

"Glad to hear," the captain smiled before checking his phone. "And almost time for departure."

"Oh, really? Thank god we found our way, then," Naomi sighed in relief.

"Don't worry, Kiyoko and I got lost as well," Aki grinned. "If it weren't for Kazumi we'd still be finding our way!"

"M-mmh…" the secretary nodded.

"Captain, it's time," Aomi reported, looking down at her watch.

"Alright then, let's get to work," Saburo noted, turning to face the girls. "Before that, though, I just wanna say this; some of you know me from the same academy we were from, some of you are fresh faces, but no matter what it is, let's get along well, not just as the crew of the Hornet, but also as friends. Is that fine?"

Various nods and calls of agreement were given in response.

The captain smiled. "Good. Well, ladies, that's all from me. Get to your stations and prepare for departure."

"Aye, sir!"

And with that, everyone quickly walked over to their respective stations. Well, everyone except Aki and Kiyoko, who stood back to watch everything.

"Yeah, you two just stay there and watch," Saburo nodded before turning to his secretary. "Kazumi, is everyone present? Are the various stations on standby?"

The secretary checked her tablet. "All personnel are present. Waiting for status response from stations."

A few seconds passed. "Green light from all stations, they're on standby and are prepared for departure, s-sir."

"Good. Inform the base via spoken radio that we'll be leaving shortly, tell them to prepare and stand by."

"Roger," she nodded, grabbing the radio mic. "U-um, Hornet to Outpost Base 10, we are prepared for departure. P-please prepare for our departure and stand by, over."

"Outpost Base 10 to Hornet, request has been received loud and clear. You are cleared for departure, timing at your discretion, over."

"Understood, over a-and out."

"Bridge to engine room, how's things down there?" the XO spoke loudly down a speaking tube.

"All good!" a female voice replied. "We're all ready to go!"

"Good! Stand by for departure!"

Musing for a moment, Saburo strolled over to the ship's intercom mic. "Alright, I think I should do a little address to the crew before we set off. Everyone's new and all, I hope I can ease any anxiety they have with an address."

"That can work, Captain," Aomi nodded. "You're the CO, after all."

"Aye," the captain nodded as he picked the mic up. "Well, here goes."

He took a deep breath and turned it on. "Attention please, this is the captain speaking. Well, first of all, I would like to welcome all of you on board the Hornet. I hope you all are happy on board so far, and I hope we can all get along with each other, both as a crew and as friends off our duties."

He paused for a moment, somewhat anxious and out of ideas, before realizing that he had more to talk about. "I am aware that to all of you this vessel is your first assignment, and that might come as a surprise to most of you, especially since you guys may have heard that you've been handpicked by me, the CO. Well, yes, you guys are selected by me as the crew of the Hornet, except the 'operators' and service crews of the 'special craft' we're carrying on board now, that is; I've got zero control over that, but they're freshies as well. Let me get this straight; this is not a mistake, you all are supposed to be here. That explanation's also tied to why you guys are selected despite not getting exceptional marks in your tests, especially due to the revolutionary nature of this vessel."

He paused to take a breath. "Yeah, I could've picked a stellar crew instead, all with straight As on their papers, all having memorized everything inside the same textbooks we've studied. And that's not something I like, you see; the way I selected you guys," he smiled, looking at everyone in his bridge, "I spent all the time I needed watching those videos of you guys in those practical training sessions. Yes, the ones that the academies don't grade. Because I value practical expertise over something written down in some book," he continued, getting much less nervous. "I watched every single one of you, going through those recordings over and over again, and the reason why you are here is simply because I've determined that you guys, despite your _written test_ marks, are the most skilled among the bunch in terms of actually being able to do a job on board a ship. Actually crewing any given vessel is very much different from memorizing naval theories in the textbooks, much different than blindly following the 'instructions' written inside a guide, and absolutely more relevant than whatever the correct answer is for Paper A, Section C, Question 24!"

Even from the bridge, chuckles can be heard coming from below decks at the mention of the notoriously difficult and pointless question in one of the graduation examination papers. The captain, grinning like an idiot himself, waited for the laughter from his bridge to die down as a control before continuing with his address. "Yeah, well, I left that question blank as well. No point trying to answer it. But back to the point, you guys are selected to be the crew of the Hornet, and you are the first choices. Never think of yourself anything less than that. You know what, my marks aren't stellar as well, I got a 68. I'm just as surprised to be assigned as a captain, on board the Hornet to add on, too! But that's done; I've been assigned here, I've gotten this command fair and square, I'll command the Hornet the best that I can. And I hope you all will carry out your duties as well as possible, too. I'm not perfect, you're not perfect, we will make mistakes in future, and we'll make them together, we'll learn from them together, and most importantly, we will grow as a crew together. Sounds like a plan, doesn't it?"

Despite the captain not speaking to them face-to-face, his words got through to everyone on board.

"He's sorta down-to-earth, isn't he?" a girl commented to her friend beside her. "I guess we weren't picked randomly after all."

"Yeah," was the reply. "I sorta feel better now, actually. Who knew the captain saw something in us?"

"Well, we've gotta show him that what he saw is true, yeah?" she smiled.

"For sure."

Back on the bridge, Saburo decided that he had something more to say. "Well, now that's out of the way, you guys know that you're on board a special ship. NPF Hornet, registry number CV-8, third ship of the Yorktown-class but the first to be completed and commissioned. 25 thousand and 900 metric tons at full load, 251.38 meters long, waterline beam of 25.37 meters, overall beam of 35 meters, and a maximum draft of 8.5 meters. She's untested, but we will change that soon enough. Last I checked the Enterprise will be ready soon, and not long after that Yorktown herself will be in service, but until then Hornet's the only operational example of a revolutionary new type of vessel, one that has never been seen before in this world, with a naval power that had been completely untapped into. This power will be revealed a few days from now, but until then, the nature and details of this are considered classified information. Above everything else, however, this is our ship, our companion, our home, and I expect all of you to treat her well. Only then will she be willing to bring us all through thick and thin."

He checked his phone. "Well, it's time for me to end this address and for us to depart. For the rest of today, Hornet will go through sea trials, and only after that will she be properly ready for duty. Again, I hope that we will all get along together, both as the crew of the Hornet and as friends off-duty. That is all."

Shutting the mic off, Saburo placed it back in its original spot. "Well, that's done. How was it?"

"It's decent," Aomi replied and the rest nodded.

"So that's the 'Captain's Charisma' everyone talks about," Aki teased. "You've got it in you, Sabu!"

"Eheh, thanks," he blushed slightly. "Anyway, yeah, let's get going. Kazumi, inform the tugs to get ready."

"Aye sir," was the meek reply as the secretary picked up the radio mic and altered the frequency to the one used for tugs. "Hornet t-to tugs, please prepare and stand by for further instructions, over."

A few seconds passed. No response.

"Hornet to tugs?"

Still no response.

"Uh, h-hello…?" she uttered meekly as everyone in the bridge watched the radio.

The captain frowned. "Wait, hold on a sec…" he muttered as he briskly walked out of the bridge, onto the starboard bridge wing.

The moment he looked down and saw only the blue ocean next to the Hornet on the starboard side, he knew what the problem was. "You've got to be kidding me!" he yelled, staring down at where the tugs were supposed to be. "I thought I asked for tugs!"

"What, they aren't there?!" the XO shouted back incredulously.

"Nope! Nada!" Saburo hollered in reply before stepping back into the bridge.

He went back to his normal volume. "Miss Moirai, can you ask the base where our tug assistance is?"

"A-aye!" the secretary squeaked out as she switched the radio's frequency. "Hornet to Outpost Base 10, where is the tug assistance we asked for, over?"

Two seconds passed. "Outpost Base 10 to Hornet, you asked for tugs, over?"

The captain and his XO facepalmed, both of them clearly knowing that they _did_ request for tug assistance.

"Yes we did…" Saburo muttered. "But tell them that we don't need them anymore."

"R-roger. Hornet to O-Outpost Base 10, we did, but the captain said they're no longer necessary, over."

"Outpost Base 10 to Hornet, acknowledged, we apologize for any inconvenience caused. We wish you a pleasant journey, over."

"Hornet to Outpost Base 10, acknowledged and thank you, over and out."

"Well, we'll bring ourselves out then," Saburo nodded, touching his Captain's hat. "Prepare to set sail. Retract all moorings."

"Aye sir," the secretary nodded, sending out the order via her tablet.

"Stand by all engines," was the next order given by the captain.

"Stand by all engines, aye!" Mari acknowledged as she and Aomi rang the telegraphs before putting all four to "STAND BY ENGINES".

Everyone waited for the reports from the mooring stations.

"Mooring stations reporting, all moorings have been retracted!" Miss Moriai reported.

Captain Yamanami nodded, taking the time to look around his bridge.

Then, he stared out of the bridge, at the vast, inviting Pacific waters ahead, seemingly at the horizon in particular.

From the side, Aki could tell that the captain was seeing beyond that; he was seeing about the future that lies ahead, in the vast oceans of the planet. He was thinking about, as he said back in the academy with a passionate speech to the orangehead one evening as they looked at the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, "the calling of adventure out from the Seven Seas towards us, where adventure runs rampant and waits for us every day".

Aki knew that Saburo had been waiting for the day adventure begins.

Well, that day has arrived, and both the Captain and the orangehead were extremely glad they'll share it together.

Adventure was calling out to the Hornet.

Returning to reality, the captain adjusted and straightened his Captain's hat. "It's time, Hornet," he muttered quietly to himself and his ship. "Let's go."

He smiled, looked up and gave the order. "Rudder straight. All engines one third ahead."

"All one third ahead, aye!"

The telegraphs rang, and the order was passed down to the engine room.

A few seconds later, underneath his feet, Saburo could feel the four steam turbines of his vessel rumble to life, each of these powerplants capable of 40 thousand shaft horsepower at maximum. To him, it was a sensation that no simulation and training can prepare anyone for; the "heartbeat" of an actual ship.

Another few seconds later, as the propellers began to rotate, the Hornet slowly but surely began to inch forward, gradually accelerating at a slow rate typical of vessels her size. This hull of welded metal had come alive, steaming under her own power for the very first time.

It took a while, but the ship was now about three quarters her length away from the berth she was docked at minutes ago. Of course, her slow speed was the result of necessary caution being rightfully exercised; obviously, it's typically not a good idea for a ship this huge to leave a berth at full ahead.

Captain Saburo stood on the port wing of the bridge, watching the cranes and admin building slowly move further and further away. Of course, he was not sightseeing; he was gauging when higher speeds would be safely available to the Hornet.

And as the ship reached roughly five-sixths of clearance, he decided it was time, turning around on his heel and returning to the bridge, obviously in a good mood.

"Hm, let's not push her yet. All engines, two-third ahead."

"All engines two-third ahead, aye!"

And with that, the turbines spun harder, and a short while later the Hornet had just left Outpost Base 10, still accelerating as she headed out into the open Pacific.

And as the Hornet gracefully slid ahead, the Blue Mermaids watched closely, unaware of the true nature of the vessel that they had just watched unleashed into the open sea.

* * *

A little over an hour after the Hornet had left Outpost Base 10, the new vessel, just as scheduled, rendezvoused with the cruiser Dauntless to proceed with her sea trials. Coming over from the Atlanta-class light cruiser were a group of engineers, all the very best the NPF has to offer, all involved in the development of the Yorktown-class and all there to evaluate the seafaring performance of the vessel when stretched to the limits.

From the starboard bridge wing, Kiyoko looked at the Dauntless as the Hornet awaited the arrival of the boat carrying the engineers.

_Atlanta-class, huh…_

"Ah, an Atlanta!" Aki commented cheerfully, stepping out to look at the light cruiser. "Workhorse of the NPF! We've got about fifty of them!"

"Woah, really?" Kiyoko turned to the orangehead, amazed. "That many?"

"Yep! Fast, agile, decent firepower, reliable and easy _plus_ cheap to maintain; they're perfect for daily stuff like patrols and light escort. We use them for pretty much anything as long as the job doesn't require anything heavier, of course!" Aki grinned.

"I see," Kiyoko smiled, understanding why the fleet had such fondness over the class. She had briefly served on board one of them as part of a short transfer program back in high school: USS San Diego, CL-53.

_Those were fun times, _she recalled fondly. _Plus, everyone's so friendly!_

"There were only eight Atlantas built by the US, too; those are the 'originals', you might say," Aki continued. "But for us the Atlanta design fits our light cruiser bill perfectly, and sure, the Americans moved on to the Clevelands, but we've outbuilt their Atlantas by a massive margin!" she grinned proudly.

Kiyoko giggled. "Contesting with the US now, eh?"

"Just a small achievement~! Anyway, just to be clear, ours are actual Atlantas; as with all the other ship classes we have, back then our spies obtained the full sets of blueprints for the Atlanta and sent it back to us. Also, we didn't cut corners in terms of build quality, so ours are just as good as the 'originals'! Just because we're technically pirates doesn't mean we've got rustbuckets!" the orangehead huffed with pride.

"Aye, I can see that!" the covert Blue Mermaid grinned.

"Oh, by the way, Sabu had suggested a software update to the systems of the Atlanta class in particular back then," Aki pointed out. "It's pretty important, too."

"Oh, really? Why?"

The girl grinned. "Classified."

"Oh, come on!"

A short while later, the boat arrived and the engineers finally boarded the Hornet. And another little while later, once they were in position and ready, the Yorktown-class vessel's sea trials officially began, starting off with the speed trials.

With all her engines set to flank, the ship plowed through the calm Pacific sea, accelerating over the next few minutes as the Dauntless followed closely behind.

The speed to achieve was 32.5 knots, the designed top speed of the Yorktown-class.

"30 knots," Mari reported, despite everyone already intently watching the speedometer.

"So far so good," the Captain nodded.

As time passed, the Hornet crept up and beyond 31 knots, and soon the 32 knot threshold was reached. Deep in the bowels of the ship, the four turbines were running hard, all of them pushed to the limits.

Slowly, the speed of the new vessel crept up, and finally, 32.6 knots was achieved.

"There we go," Miss Kubota commented cooly. "32.6 knots. We're performing just as expected."

"Steady as she goes, Miss Sazama," Saburo said, still watching. "We're not done yet."

"Aye, Cap."

"What do you mean?" Aki asked, curious. "We hit the max designed limit, didn't we?"

"We did. However, that doesn't mean it's the _exact_ limit of the ship," the Captain explained, smiling to himself as 33.7 knots was achieved. "See, told ya she's got more!"

"Oh!" the orangehead replied in surprise. "So not the exact outputs, eh?"

"Just watch, guys. I call a bet, we'll break 33 knots."

"33 knots?" Miss Moriai raised her eyebrows. "C-can we really go that far beyond…?"

Captain Yamanami, almost knowingly, just grinned as 32.8 knots was attained.

Some seconds later, the Hornet edged to 32.9 knots. And sure enough, to the surprise of the girls, the Hornet hit 33 knots.

"I win!" the Captain chuckled.

As everyone continued to watch, the Yorktown-class vessel plowed through the calm Pacific waters, her speed still increasing.

33.1.

33.2.

33.3.

33.4.

"She's still going at it!" Naomi commented in awe as Hornet clocked 33.5 knots.

Everyone waited in anticipation.

Seconds passed.

And finally…

"A full knot faster! I don't believe it!" Miss Sazama shouted in excitement. "Go Hornet!"

"Steady as she goes, steady as she goes," Saburo grinned. "Just a bit more…"

And over the next few minutes, the Hornet continued to speed up, the Dauntless behind slowly falling back, having only a top speed of 33.5 knots. Finally, the speedometer rested on 33.8 knots, displaying the maximum speed the new NPF vessel can reach.

Logged into the laptops of the technicians and announced to the bridge, the vessel reached specifically 33.85 knots, a whole 1.25 knots faster than designed. Her four turbines, designed to produce 120,000 hp in total, clocked up to 120,500.

Granted, everyone on the bridge was extremely proud. Someone, although pleased, seemed like he knew this was going to be the outcome.

But the trails weren't over.

"Alright," the Captain decided, "we gotta U-turn. Hard-a-starboard, give us a perfect 180!"

"Hard-a-starboard, aye!" the navigational officer acknowledged, immediately spinning the wheel starboard.

Kiyoko blinked, confused.

"Captain, may I ask you something?" she asked.

"Oh? By all means, go ahead," was the reply from the Captain.

"You gave the order 'hard-a-starboard', but why is she turning right?" the covert Blue Mermaid asked, a certain other ship in her mind.

Saburo blinked. "Well, what do you mean? Starboard _is _right."

"Yeah, I know that, but…" Miss Yamada went on before giggling. "God, I sound like an amateur, don't I? What I mean is, if you give the order 'hard-a-starboard, isn't the helmsman supposed to turn the ship port?"

"Huh?" Miss Sazama looked back before the wheel abruptly stopped turning starboard, reaching its limit just as the rudder of the Hornet itself began to actually turn. "Oh, helm's hard over!"

"Acknowledged," Saburo nodded and smiled, realizing what Kiyoko was talking about. "Let me guess, Titanic?"

The covert Blue Mermaid grinned sheepishly. "Yes."

The Captain chuckled knowingly, the ship starting to roll towards her port side as she began to turn starboard. "Understandable, it's not something to be ashamed of. Well, it's actually simple; back then, ships were transitioning from sail to steam, and with that came the differences between tiller orders and rudder orders as well. You know what a tiller is, right? That long stick directly attached to the rudder."

"Oh, yeah, I know what that is," Miss Yamada nodded before coming to a realization, the Hornet continuing to roll. "Ohhh, I see now. The Titanic was using tiller orders, then?"

"That's right," Saburo nodded as everyone balanced themselves against the increasing roll of the ship. "Rudder orders weren't the definite system until the international standards were sent in the 1930s."

"I see. Why this long, though?" the covert Blue Mermaid asked curiously. "Wouldn't it make sense to change it to rudder orders once wheels became the majority?"

"Well, couple reasons. For one, it's tradition," the Captain explained as the Hornet continued to pull hard to the right. "Seems like she's turning fine," he briefly diverted the subject. "Anyway, the second reason's that it's consistent. No matter what ship you're on, as long as you've got a rudder there's always a tiller, so although it may seem confusing and contradictory to some today, it'll actually make perfect sense."

"I see," Miss Yamada nodded. "Yep, that clears it up, thanks! How do you know this, though?"

"I just read about it some time back," Saburo smiled.

As time passed, Hornet cleared the turn and was soon speeding down in the opposite direction she came from, the Dauntless still chasing behind her.

Over the course of the rest of the late afternoon, the new vessel repeatedly stopped, started, ran around in circles and crash stopped as her trials continued. In each test, the Hornet came out just as intended, to the relief and joy of everyone on board.

Finally, with the evening sun shining down over the Pacific, the trails were concluded. Soon enough, the technicians were all headed back to the Dauntless, full of all the data they needed from the NPF's newest ship. These will be evaluated, and any flaws found would be slated for patching up once the ship returns to port and had access to a drydock, either for maintenance, repairs or even a potential refit.

Captain Yamanami stared out at the evening sea, standing at the front of his bridge, waiting for the Dauntless to be ready.

It was beautiful. Simple, but mesmerizing.

Deciding that this was a view to be remembered, Saburo took his phone out and took a picture. He smiled, satisfied with how it turned out, and with a sudden idea, set it as his wallpaper.

"Captain, m-message from the Dauntless," Kazumi reported meekly behind him as he put his phone back in his pocket. "They've received all technical personnel and are ready to leave. A-also, they've wished us the best of luck on our voyage."

The captain turned around. "Very well. That was polite of her. Return the compliment."

"Aye, sir."

And so, with the Hornet having sent her own well-wishes to the cruiser, the Dauntless started up. As the crew of the new NPF vessel watched, their escort turned around and steamed away, back into deeper NPF waters.

"Well, it's time we got underway ourselves," Saburo commented, stepping away from the windows. "It's getting late, after all."

"Yes Sir!"

"What now?" Kiyoko asked the Captain as everyone took up their posts.

"Well, we've got a bit more before we get our assignments; one of our trails isn't done."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Classified."

"... Oh," was the tired, dejected reply. "I should've known."

Saburo chuckled. "Relax, it's only for a while more. We're going to be headed off to another area in NPF territory, it's a one-and-a-half day trip. Helm, you do know where we're going, right?"

"Yes," Mari nodded. "It's in the digital brief, right?"

"Yep. And you'd get to see Aki in action, too!"

"Right on!" the orangehead grinned. "So, just hold on for less than two days and you'll find out soon enough!"

"Well, when you put it that way, of course!" the covert Blue Mermaid nodded happily. "I'd wait till then, then!"

"That's good," Captain Yamanami smiled as he patted her on the shoulder.

He straightened his hat with both hands. "Alright girls, let's get a move on. Helm, set a course for our next location, all engines two-thirds ahead."

And with that, the Hornet steamed off, headed away into the distance.

* * *

Saburo entered his quarters, obviously tired.

It had been a few hours since the conclusion of the Hornet's sea trials, and his shift has just ended. And what an exciting first day as Captain of a ship that was.

This day has been really pleasant.

Smiling to himself, he set his hat down on his desk and sat down, turning his laptop on. This is his encrypted terminal for any direct orders given to him by HQ, on top of being able to privately communicate with other captains from other ships via here. Of course, the latter was also possible with his phone, but hey, that was only because he linked it to his laptop.

As the computer started up, the Captain was expecting only some mail from HQ, probably congratulating him for his ship's first day or _his_ first day. If only his senior was already in the Captains' community chat, but alas, her ship isn't ready yet. Just a little more waiting for that.

He was right; HQ did send a couple of mail to him.

However, one stood out among the others.

It was a Priority One message; as the highest priority classification, this demands his immediate, full attention.

"Odd," he muttered to himself as he clicked it. "What's the emergency?"

Reading through it, Saburo realized why this was a Priority One.

The issue could be easily summarized in one, simple sentence from the message itself.

"YOU MAY HAVE A SPY ON BOARD."


End file.
